WHITMAN – The Whitman-Hanson High football has put last season’s disappointment in the past.

In fact, it moved on before their 2013 Thanksgiving Day game against Abington.

The Panthers, who finished 0-10-1, battled a Division 5 South champion Green Wave team to a hard-fought 26-14 loss despite starting eight sophomores.

“To them, this year started on Thanksgiving last year and they moved on from that,” said coach Mike Driscoll. “We had a pretty good game against a good football team.”

Before last season, the Panthers broke a spell of losing seasons with back-to-back winning campaigns. With a young team in 2013, the Panthers knew they’d be in for some lumps.

“It was a tough year, but we kind of knew we were going to have to pay our dues playing the young kids and hopefully it’s going to pay off this year,” said Driscoll. “We don’t talk about it too much because they already did their work in the offseason to forget it.”

The mentality of moving on has seeped into the players’ minds, including junior quarterback Nick Smith.

“Last year was disappointing, but we want to bounce back this year,” said Smith. “You’ve just got to forget about it and focus on improving this year and getting better every day.”

Whitman-Hanson looks young class-wise – the Panthers plan to start 20 juniors and two seniors – but most of those juniors were thrown into the gridiron gauntlet last fall.

“They got game experience so the young kids got game experience, which you can’t duplicate anywhere else,” said Driscoll. “A lot of them weren’t ready to play and they played, but they got that game experience underneath them.”

Smith was among those, taking over behind center midway through the season.

“It was huge because he now knows the game speed,” said Driscoll. “He’s a gamer and it all starts with him.”

Driscoll called Smith the fastest player on the Panthers who also throws a great deep ball, making him a perfect fit for Whitman-Hanson’s spread offense.

Smith will be behind what may end up being the Panthers’ biggest strength – their offensive line – made up of Matt Evans (returns after missing last year due to injury), Mitch Kinney, Frank Blake, Cole Berthelette and Ricky Sherlock.

“The offensive line is a huge plus for us this year, said Driscoll. “Every single kid on the line started a game last year and they’re big.

“As the season progresses, I think our offensive line will be our biggest strength.”

Page 2 of 2 - Smith will be handing off the ball to sophomore Jason Bosse.

“He’s a very dynamic kid,” said Driscoll of his running back. “He’s got a lot of strength, but he’s really fast and sees the hole really well.”

Mike Lenane and Liam Sweeney, both receivers and defensive backs, will also be key skill players.

Defensively, Whitman-Hanson returns its entire secondary and bolsters a strong front led by defensive ends Conor Campbell – whom Driscoll called one of the smartest players he’s ever coached – and Lucas Reale.

“We’re flying around,” said Driscoll. “We switched up our scheme a little, but we’re very big up front again.”

Berthelette, Nick Villanueva and Joey Tanner will also be key defensively.

The rebuild is over for the Panthers. They’re ready to play football.

“We don’t feel young because they know the system now,” said Driscoll.

“We can come out now and not worry about the little things.”

Chris McDaniel may be reached at CMcDaniel@enterprisenews.com and followed on Twitter @ChrisMcDaniel88.